Implemented by partner organizations of the CFTU Network for the Central Visayas Region of the Philippines

The overall goal of the project is to support local government and community-led watershed mangement initiative in the Philippines Visayas region by mobilizing expertise from a diverse set of partner organizations for collaborative research human capacity development outreach. The project was funded by the ALO/USAID Higher Education Partnership for Development Program with additional support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service.

The project partnership mobilized faculty expertise from Cornell University and Leyte State University for collaborative research, human capacity development and outreach in support of local government and community-led watershed management initiatives in the Philippines' Visayas region. An overview and project outputs (including posters) are included in the proceedings of the Symposium of the CU-LSu Community-based Watershed Support Project (17 MB), which was held in Leyte during August 2005.

Partnership goals are to:

• strengthen local environmental governance in order that communities and local governments can better manage critical watersheds and water resources in communities characterized by diverse stakeholder interests
• strengthen capacity of partner institutions to support community-based natural resource management through education, research and outreach partnerships with local governments, NGOs and peoples organizations
• increase rural residents’ and local government units’ understanding of the National Integrated Protected Area law (NIPAS) and the roles and responsibilities of local representatives to Protected Area Management Boards (PAMBs)
• develop innovative curricula and experiential learning approaches for preparing the next generation of community development practitioners and natural resource management specialists.

There are five major themes that the project has focused on during the project. (The fifth was added after the project was already ongoing). These are:

• Enhancing Environmental Governance
• Building Institutional Capacity
• Empowering Local Decision-Makers
• Curricular Innovation
• Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability In and around Critical Watersheds

Project contacts:

• Terry Tucker
  Associate Director
  Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD)
  Warren Hall
  Ithaca, New York 24853
  


• Zosimo de la Rosa
  College of Agriculture
  Leyte State University
  Baybay, Leyte
  Philipppines